This patent document relates to a mobile device case that serves as an electrical charger and storage dock for rechargeable wireless audio earbuds.
Wireless audio earbuds (“earbuds”) are a convenient way to eliminate tangled wires that impede a user's full range of motion. Existing charging devices for wireless earbuds require users to carry external battery packs, storage devices, or dedicated plug-in charging devices. Wireless earbuds are commonly tethered together (although they communicate wirelessly with a mobile device) in order to prevent loss, given inadequate forms of storage for untethered earbuds. Maintaining wireless earbuds can be inconvenient to a user because they require regular electrical charge.
This document describes devices that address some or all of the issues described above.
Background prior art includes U.S. Patent Application No. 2012/0250914, titled “Detachable Wireless Listening Device”; U.S. Pat. No. 8,638,064, titled “Charger Device for a Portable Electronic Device”; and U.S. Pat. No. 8,180,078, titled “Systems and Methods Employing Multiple Individual Wireless Earbuds for a Common Audio Source.” The disclosures of each of these documents are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.